Time to Chill
by Splinter1
Summary: The Titans get some much needed downtime as Kole and Gnarrk come visiting. Cyborg gets pranked by Edward after embarrassing Terra. Honorable mentions: "Man V. Food" episode.
1. Visiting Kole

**Time to Chill**

_January, 2012_

A/N: Teen Titans characters are owned by DC Comics, Warner Brothers Television and Cartoon Network.

**Prologue  
>[A week after "Titans Vs. Slade"]<strong>

_Starfire of Tamaran writes (Translated from Tamaranean):_

_After Terra did the kicking of Slade's butt and friend Edward's ordeal getting out of the concrete, the Titans needed some 'time off'. Friend Raven was going to be OK, but, she's been acting weird though. Since then, she's been doing the showing of affection with friend Edward._

_Boyfriend Robin says not to worry about it too much. Since the Trigon was banished from Earth, friend Raven has been more willing to show her emotions._

_But, we also got a visit from two other friends and they've done the boosting of the morale. Friend Cyborg explained it as making us feel happier…_

**[Chapter 1]  
>[Extreme Northern Canada]<strong>

After the final defeat of the Brotherhood of Evil, Kole had felt a desire to visit the upper world and her friends the Teen Titans. But, she was also apprehensive about being up there. The last few times she dealt with people, she ended up captured, even with the help of her best friend, a lunking guy named Gnaark with a fear of technology.

Kole was also unique in that she could transform her body into solid crystal and back at will. She wasn't much taller than Raven of the Titans, with pink hair, two strands standing up to form a pair of fake antenna.

Gnaark was a simple man who preferred to live in a relatively secret cave, for lack of a better term. There was a source of heat throughout the cave that gave it a tropical look despite the northern location.

Gnarrk couldn't communicate verbally but was still able to talk to Kole in ways that she understood perfectly. Well, he could talk, but, it was basically "Gnarrk!" He understood English, but, wasn't able to really communicate.

"Gnarrk," Kole said, "How would you like to visit the Teen Titans?"

"Gnarrk!" he said and mumbled a few other variations of his only word.

"No, silly," she said, "We'd only be gone for a week or so."

"Hmmf, gnarrk!" he said.

"You're worried about me, aren't you?" she asked.

He nodded his head.

"I'll be with the Teen Titans," she said, "We'll be fine. They'll help you as well, right?"

He sighed and nodded.

"Let me call them and see what they have planned," Kole said and pulled out her communicator.

"Kole to Titans Tower," she said.

Cyborg answered, "Kole! What's up?"

"Not much, Cyborg," she said, "I was wanting to visit you guys for a while. I miss you guys."

"Well, get your bags packed, Kole! We'll come get you and Gnarrk in a little bit," he said with a big grin.

He turned his head to someone off screen, "Hey, Edward! How do you feel about a trip north to pick up a couple of honorary Titans?"

The as yet unseen Edward yelled back, "Sure, I'd love to meet more members of the Titans. Let me get Raven if she's got the location in her mind. Ten minutes sound good?"

"Can you make it an hour?" Kole asked.

"Kole needs an hour!" Cyborg said.

Edward came into view and Kole dropped her jaw…She thought Edward was very handsome, but, was obviously unaware that he was already taken by Raven.

"Hi, Kole!" he said with a smile, "Nice to meet you finally. The team's told me about you. An hour's fine with me. I'll be bringing Raven with me since I can get your location from her mind."

"You're thousands of miles away, though," Kole said, "How are you going to get here so fast?"

"I'm a dragon, Kole," he explained, "I can teleport from the Tower to where you're at and back again."

"Cool!" she said, "What about Dr. Light?"

"In jail, again," Cyborg said, "He ran into Edward and Beast Boy and Raven frightened him into giving up."

"Nice," she said, "Well, the clock's ticking so I best get moving. I'll bring some of the fruit you guys like so much."

"Quit drooling, Cy," Edward said, "You'll short yourself out."

Kole laughed, "Better bring lots of it then! Last time, he beat Gnarrk in an eating contest."

Edward and Cyborg heard a "Gnarrk!" followed by a grumbling.

"It's OK," Kole said, looking off screen, "We won't get into any eating contests, I hope."

Cyborg chuckled at the memory. Edward looked like he had several question marks floating above his head.

"I'll explain later," Kole said chuckling as well.

"See ya soon!" Cyborg said and signed off.

Kole started packing stuff to take with her. Gnarrk availed himself to getting the fruits in question and lots of them.

It didn't take long for the tasks to be accomplished. Kole had her stuff as well as Gnarrk's ready for the trip.

An hour after the conversation ended, the sky darkened for a few moments as a 30 foot long dragon came in for a landing with Raven on his back…along with the other Titans who insisted on coming along.

Kole was surprised to see a skinny blonde there as well.

Edward lowered himself to the ground as the other Titans got off. He transformed back to human and was puzzled when Gnarrk cowered in fear.

Then again, Edward could sympathize. He said, "It's OK, I'm not going to hurt you friend."

"Friend Edward's right, friend Gnarrk. He's one of the Titans now," Starfire said. Gnarrk looked up to see Edward offering a hand up.

Gnarrk looked at Kole and she smiled, "Go ahead, silly. He's wanting to be a friend."

Gnarrk reached up slowly and Edward took his hand. Edward pulled gently and Gnarrk stood up.

"See?" Edward said, "I know how you're scared. I'm kind of like Beast Boy and you're not afraid of him, right?"

"Gnarrk," he said. Edward raised an eyebrow.

"He agrees with you," Kole said.

"I know," Edward replied, "I could tell by the tone."

He held out his hand to Kole. She shook it gratefully.

"Kole, this is Edward Barnes. Edward, this is Kole," Robin said.

"A pleasure to finally meet you," Edward said.

"Also," Robin said, "I'd like to introduce you to another Titan. Kole, this is Terra. Terra, this is Kole, one of the honorary Titans we inducted in your absence."

"Rock on!" Terra said, "It's a pleasure to run into honorary Titans." Terra gave Kole a fist bump as well as Gnarrk, who was puzzled by the move.

"Why the name Terra?" Kole asked. Terra responded by lifting a nearby boulder.

"She's a geomancer," Edward said, "Able to move earth with her mind."

"Nice!" Kole said. She transformed herself to crystal and that got Edward and Terra to drop their jaws.

Kole transformed back and laughed.

"OK," Edward said, "3,000 years old and this is another new experience."

"You're how old?" Kole said, shocked.

"Roughly 3,000," Edward said, "I'm also immortal."

"Nice!" she said.

"Friend Edward is more than that, though," Starfire said, floating happily.

"Let's not overwhelm Kole, Starfire," Raven said, "He's uncomfortable showing off."

Properly abashed, Starfire said, "Sorry, friends."

Edward replied in Tamaranean, "Relax, Koriand'r. For the honorary Titans, I'll show them some of my abilities."

Kole looked puzzled, "What language is that?"

"It's Starfire's native language," Robin said, "Edward's already very fluent in it. One of his abilities is learning different languages almost instantly."

"I wouldn't say that, Robin," Edward said, "It depends on the difficulty of the language. Tamaranean actually took me a while to master. It's harder than English or Japanese, to be honest. It's the first alien language I've learned. Earth languages have common roots that I learned in my travels. There's no human version of Star's language, so, I had to take more time to learn it at a more human speed."

"It's glorious to be able to speak my language with someone else, though," Starfire said.

"What else can you do?" Kole said.

Edward moved away and transformed to his mini-dragon form.

"Terra," Edward said, "If you'd be so kind…"

"With pleasure," she said, levitating several boulders into the air.

"Stand back, Titans," Robin said. The team complied.

Edward's spinal ridges glowed white for a moment before blasting one boulder apart with the lightning breath.

Kole's jaw dropped as Gnarrk ran for safety…behind Cyborg!

"Easy, big fella," Cyborg soothed.

"I wonder if I can focus that," Kole said.

Edward pondered the question, "It's possible, but, my lightning packs a punch. I'd be worried about hurting you."

"It's OK, friend Edward," Starfire said, "Friend Kole can focus my Starbolts without harm."

"You couldn't hurt me if you tried," Kole said, parroting the same line she used to help convince Star a year ago.

"Invulnerable in crystal form?" Edward asked.

"Yep," Kole said with a smile.

Edward was satisfied.

"Terra, would you lift Kole to the boulder on the left, please?" Edward asked.

"Hang on," Terra said. A moment later, a chunk of earth under Kole was lifted up and positioned where Edward asked.

Kole transformed to crystal. Edward's spine lit up one more time and he hit Kole with a half powered lightning bolt.

A second later, that half powered bolt was transformed into a finely focused bolt that was easily triple the power. It nearly vaporized the boulder on the other side.

Everyone's jaw dropped as Kole returned to flesh and blood. Terra lowered her back to the same hole that was created.

"Rock on!" she said, summing up the feelings of the other Titans.

"Awesome!" Beast Boy said.

"Glorious!" That was from Starfire, of course.

"Impressive," said Raven with a rare smile. Kole saw that and said, "OK, who is this and where is Raven?"

Edward chuckled and said, "Well, if my girl wants to smile, let her. Trust me, Kole, this is Raven."

Edward thought he saw a flash of disappointment on Kole's face before she recovered.

[I think Kole was developing a fast crush on you, dear,] Raven said via the link.

[Agreed, hon,] Edward said, [Kole's a very lovely young woman. But, you know who has my heart.]

[Damn straight!] Raven said playfully, [You can look, but, if you touch, not even you can teleport back from where I'd send you.]

[Don't I know it! I've heard stories of when the team thought you were jealous of someone,] Edward replied.

[Well, I'll admit I was jealous of Terra for a long time. I had a secret crush on Beast Boy and I knew he had similar feelings,] Raven admitted, [But, I'm quite content in what you and I share on so many levels. We both were lonely, I guess, but, that was not the reason we fell in love.]

[Nope,] Edward said with a smile.

Robin cleared his throat, "You were going to show Kole the other breath weapons, right? Terra's good, but, I don't want her straining to hold up those boulders too long."

"Sorry about that," Edward rumbled. His spine flashed red and a moment later, he hit the remaining boulder with the flame breath, causing the boulder to start glowing red. After a few moments, Edward's spine went from red to neon blue. The boulder was glowing from the sustained flame, but, as Kole watched, a stream of white emerged as Edward hit the rock with his ice breath.

At first the ice breath flashed to steam on contact, but, as the assault continued, the boulder started to flake apart and finally cracked into several large chunks.

Edward stopped his attack and motioned to Terra. She set the fragments down carefully, several of them coated in ice that would melt on its own.

Kole was at a loss for words for several moments then went over to Edward and gave him a quick hug. She had already realized that Edward was dating Raven, so, kept it to a quick hug.

"It's OK, Kole," Raven said, "I'm not going to get jealous if an honorary Titan gives my boyfriend a longer hug."

"Thanks, Raven," she said, "I've never seen anyone able to do all that I've seen."

"Edward's pretty incredible," Raven said, resulting in a serious blush for the dragon, who had just went back to his human form.

"Thanks, dear," he said.

That got a laugh out of everyone there, including Raven who merely chuckled at the thought.

"You guys hungry?" Kole asked.

That got a huge smile out of Cyborg, "You bet! Got those fruits?"

"Of course," Kole said with a laugh.

"Glorious!" Starfire said, "You'll love them, friends."

Terra raised an eyebrow but went along for the ride…or walk in this case to Kole's place.

Edward watched as Kole transformed to crystal again and Gnarrk used her to slice apart some green fruit.

"No knife?" Edward asked.

Kole transformed back and said, "Nope."

"I can fix that, if you'd let me," Edward said.

"How?" she asked.

Edward transformed to mini-dragon and after altering his scales to a sharper configuration, simply reached down, grabbed one and pulled it out. The scale grew back a minute later and Edward transformed back to his human form.

"I think this will work better," Edward said, getting one of the fruits and slicing it effortlessly into quarters.

"Nice," Kole said, "May I?"

"Hold it by the dull end," Edward instructed her, "The sharp end will stay that way for a long time. The scales are hard as diamonds, so, this should stay sharp for decades and sharp enough to take off a finger as easily as it sliced through the fruit."

Edward handed Kole the scale and tried one of the fruit quarters. His eyebrows went up.

"Starfire was right. These are wonderful!" Edward said.

Kole made short work of the fruit and handed Edward a tray to take to the others.

Edward sat the tray down and the other Titans dug in. Terra snagged one and after biting into it smiled broadly.

"Told ya, girl," Cyborg said, "They're really good."

Terra stuck her tongue out and said, "Bet ya can't eat more than me."

"What's the bet?" Cyborg asked.

"Loser does the winner's chores at the Tower for a week," she suggested.

"You're on!" Cyborg said.

Edward rolled his eyes and said, "You're lucky I'm not interested in eating challenges most of the time. In my dragon form, I'd eat y'all under the table."

"What about in your human form?" Cyborg asked.

"Sorry, that's need-to-know as I wouldn't want to leave our gracious host without these delicious fruits," Edward taunted.

Beast Boy formed a green chicken at that one. Raven reached over and cuffed him in response.

He transformed back and said, "Ow!"

"Don't make fun of my guy," Raven said. She meant it to be serious, but, the hint of a smile betrayed her.

Edward laughed, "Be nice, you two."

"I'm not buying right now, Cy," he continued, "but, I know a few places back home that would give even you a run for your money."

"Raven smiled!" Beast Boy said.

"Was it worth the smack?" Edward quipped.

"Yep," he said. Edward shook his head.

[You made his day, Rae,] he said.

[Make another bad rhyme and you're next,] she said with a laugh.

"Now, Raven," Kole said with a twinkle in her eye, "It's no fun when no one else can hear that?"

Both Edward and Raven dropped their jaws, "You're telepathic?"

"Somewhat," she admitted, "How do you think I understand Gnarrk as I do. I can 'hear', but, can't reply in kind."

Edward nodded, "You're a receiver, then."

"I guess," she said and lowered her head.

"Kole," Edward said gently lifting her chin, "It's a gift, not a curse. Try to imagine Gnarrk here trying to communicate and you couldn't figure out what he wanted?"

She did think about it and sighed, "We wouldn't be friends."

"Right," Raven said, "Being even a one way telepath is a good thing here. But, we'll have to teach you to block out other thoughts. When Edward and I use our link, it's not for others to overhear."

Raven was a little upset, but, she was trying to be understanding of Kole's problem.

"It's one reason you don't like being up top?" Edward guessed.

"Not really," she said, "People were using me for my powers and I got sick of it. Gnarrk and I love it down here. Then again, I feel safe with the Titans, so, it's ok."

"Won't happen this time, Kole," Edward said, "You're an honorary Titan and as the others will tell you, we got your back."

"He's right," Terra said, "He's helped Raven and I during several hard times. What can I say?"

Well, Terra and Cyborg got down to business with the eating contest. Edward was actually impressed. He knew Terra was capable of a huge appetite despite her being thin and she proved it!

Gnarrk sighed as Kole said, "You don't want to try again? Don't blame you, Gnarrk."

She explained to Edward, "Cyborg beat him the first time they were here."

"Gotcha, Kole," he said.

Both Terra and Cyborg were neck and neck for a while, but, while Edward was rooting for the geomancer, she couldn't keep up with Cyborg in the long run. Finally, she hit the "food wall" and couldn't continue.

"Ugh!" she groaned, "You win."

"Booya!" he crowed, "Still the champion!"

Edward raised an eyebrow.

[Are you thinking what I think you're thinking, my dear?] Raven asked, [Not a peep out of you, Kole, please.]

[I know a few places across the country that would give Cyborg a run for his money, but, what he doesn't know is some of these places are spicy challenges. Stuff that makes me break out in a sweat, but, it's worth it if I think Cy's getting to gloat too much,] Edward said.

Raven busted out laughing, [I love it! I'd pay money to see that one. But, he's capable of eating stuff that makes my hair curl.]

Edward got a mental image of Raven with curled lavender hair, followed by a Raven death glare.

[Like what?] Edward asked seriously.

[Wasabi, for one,] she said. Edward mentally raised an eyebrow.

[OK, that's somewhat spicy,] Edward said, [But, if I make something with Jalapeño, Habanero, Serrano and Ghost Chili peppers, I wonder how he'd handle it.]

[How hot would that be, dear?] Raven asked.

[You've seen my flame breath…Imagine Cyborg with that,] Edward said.

It was Raven's turn to picture something funny. She was picturing Cyborg eating those four peppers, turning bright red and spewing flame at Edward, who ended up singed.

She ended up laughing very hard through the link and out loud.

"What the heck?" Beast Boy complained, "I've never gotten Raven to laugh that hard!"

"It's a secret," Kole said, trying hard not to laugh herself. Her time in man's world was good for something: She knew some of the hottest dishes known to man.

[I LOVE IT!] Happy squealed through the link. Edward heard Happy's mirth through the link.

[Smart-aleck,] Edward teased, [Don't worry, girls, you're getting a ringside seat.]

Cyborg said, "I'm dead meat, aren't I?"

"Just wait, eating machine," Raven said, "Edward's got something planned for you that only he, Kole and I know and we're NOT talking, right?"

"My lips are sealed," Edward replied.

"Sorry, Cyborg," Kole said, "Not saying a word here."

Cyborg grumbled, "Yep, somehow, I just stepped in it."

Everyone else laughed.

"You guys ready?" Robin asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be," Kole replied.

"Is Gnarrk afraid of heights?" Edward asked.

"Not really," Kole said, "He's got a hiding place in the trees a short distance away. He's more afraid of technology."

"All right," Edward said, "Here's how I'd like folks to line up for the teleport. Robin is up front, followed by Starfire, Terra, Beast Boy, Gnarrk, then Cyborg, Kole should be over my wings, then Raven."

Usually Edward didn't care what the order was, but, with Kole and Gnarrk, he wanted to be certain that there was safety in mind. The actual flight time would not be long, but, Edward wasn't taking any chances.

Edward walked a distance away and transformed to Dragon. Everyone got on. Gnarrk was cautious, but, with Kole encouraging him, he managed to climb aboard.

"You'll be fine," she said, "Cyborg's behind you to catch you."

He grunted as he settled in.

"Kole, and Gnarrk," Edward instructed, "Please hold onto the ridge in front of you. You're in a place on my back where if you slide off, you'll land on my wings. We're not going to go very high, though."

Edward felt the two newest passengers comply. Edward walked over and got Kole's bag in his teeth and twisted his neck to hand it to Robin.

"Here we go," Edward said and turned around. He lifted into the air and after picturing the roof of the Tower in his mind, teleported…

* * *

><p>Welcome back, friends :) Here's the "fluff piece" I was talking about. I figured Kole and Gnarrk would fit into this one pretty nicely. There probably will not be any fights in here, though. (But, don't hold me to that. I might throw one in for the fun of it).<p>

Fans of **Man vs. Food** might recognize where Edward's coming from. Poor Cyborg...When Edward's done with the challenge, he might not be as willing to humiliate others. Remember that Gnarrk would love to see Cyborg taken down a peg (When Kole was introduced in the series), and as you just read, he beat Terra as well. I just have to think of the right challenge for Cyborg, knowing he can eat pretty much anything (See "Crash" in the series.)

I had to give Kole limited telepathic abilities. That's the only reasonable solution to how she understands Gnarrk. Raven and Edward will have to teach her some control as to when to ignore them. Raven will only tolerate it for so long, you know.

Thanks for reading this and the other stories in the series...remember that they are tied in to one another in different ways and, yes, I do try to explain as well, but, if someone is lost, please, let me know and I'll point you in the right direction.

As always, please use the link below if you want to review :) Signed reviews get private PM responses. Anon reviews or reviewers who have turned off their PM will get replies in this section, if needed. One rule I have, though, is that I have to be familiar with the series crossover and need to be sure Edward's a good fit. I've tried other shows and, well, with Edward's abilities, they turn into "Mary Sue" stories and very one sided. I'm trying to avoid that with the Titans...Hence Raven's talk a few stories back and Edward stepping aside at times to let the team handle the problem. In fact, we might see Edward staying behind to man the communications and other things (stuff Terra did in the first story).

Thoughts on that?


	2. A quick mission while Kole visits

**Chapter 2  
>[Back at the Tower]<strong>

Edward emerged from the teleport on the roof of Titan's Tower and landed softly.

After lowering himself to the ground and leaving his wings extended, he felt the team getting off. Soon as he saw everyone safely on the roof, he returned to his usual form.

Edward was giving a lot of thought to how to show Cyborg that it wasn't cool to humiliate the others with his excessive eating. He had a plan, but, would need some help to accomplish it. He'd have to use the link to get Raven's help or, better yet, talk to his girlfriend without the others knowing about it.

Edward made a mental note to look up super spicy food challenges over the next couple of days, though.

First thing on the agenda, getting their guests settled in for the next week or so. Hopefully, Edward would get some time to himself, even if it were for an hour, that would be plenty to get his plans into motion.

Regardless, they had house guests that had to be attended to. First thing Robin said that if there were any missions, that Kole and Gnarrk would stay back. They were guests of the Titans and not expected or required to go on missions.

Depending on what the trouble was, would determine the response from the team. They were hoping though, that for a while things in Jump City could be handled by the police.

**[An hour later]**

Well, as it turned out, there would have to be an alert called in. The lights in the tower turned red as the klaxons sounded.

"Looks like we have a hostage situation. Raven, you and Edward check it out," Robin said, putting the live police chopper feed on the screen.

"Got it," Edward said. Raven nodded in agreement.

"Let's go, dear," Edward said, "You can teleport us, if you'd like."

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she said and Edward's vision went black for a moment before clearing. He was slightly disoriented by her method of teleportation, but, it cleared in a few moments.

They went over to the SWAT commander on scene and Edward introduced himself and Raven.

"Where are the other Titans?" he asked.

"Back at the Tower," Edward said, "We have some honorary Titans as guests and Robin decided to send Raven and I. We'll get the hostages out safely. What's the situation?"

"Well, this is a bank robbery gone wrong. The silent alarm was called in 30 minutes ago, but, the robbers have the employees and about 30 customers hostage. We're trying to talk them into letting some hostages go as a sign of good faith. They're threatening to start killing hostages unless their demands are met," the captain said.

"And those are?" Raven asked.

"Safe passage to the airport, a small jet and transportation out of the country along with a boatload of cash…$10 million," the captain said.

Edward raised an eyebrow, "Weapons?"

"They claim to have automatic weapons as well as high explosives," he said.

"Any way to confirm that?" Edward said.

"No," the police captain said, "The windows were covered before we got there.

"I should mention that they said they'd kill a hostage every hour until their demands are met."

"Then, we best hurry," Edward said, "there's only 20 minutes left, looks like."

"What's the game plan?" the captain said.

"A frontal assault would get the hostages killed. I need to do some recon first. It shouldn't take long," Edward said.

"How will you do that?" the guy said.

"He'll teleport in, probably," Raven said.

"Close, dear," Edward said, then, shapeshifted to a fly.

[I'll get in like this, Rae] Edward elaborated, [They shouldn't suspect a thing. I can get in there, see what they got and, get out. If need be, I'll wing it.]

That got a groan out of the empath.

"Bad joke," she explained, "Edward's talking to me telepathically."

Edward flew over to the doors to see that they were locked and he'd need to get in another way. Luckily, he didn't have to be in dragon form to teleport. He could see inside the bank just enough to teleport inside.

A second later, he did just that and he was inside the structure. He flew up towards the ceiling and could see several terrified customers and employees on the ground. There were five armed gunmen, armed with what appeared to be AK-47s as well as handguns.

Edward saw a briefcase in the hand of one of the gunmen. Edward couldn't see into the briefcase, so, he had to assume that there was enough explosive to blow the building up. After the last encounter with explosives, he wasn't thrilled to be potentially facing more.

[Rae, please relay to the officers that the men are armed to the teeth. AK-47s as well as SigSauer 9mm pistols. There is also one robber with a briefcase. I do not know what is inside it,] Edward relayed.

[All right,] she said. A few moments later she said, [If you can take them down, the captain said to do so, but, be careful. They'll try to distract the leader.]

[Hope this works,] Edward said. He already had a plan in mind as well.

One of the hostages tried to get the attention of a gunman and almost got the butt end of the gun in reply.

"Please, I just need the restroom," the man said.

"I'll check," the gunman said. He went over to the leader.

"Yo, Zach," the guy said, "Got a hostage needing to take a whizz."

"Escort the guy to the restroom. If he tries anything, let him know it'll be his last," the guy named Zach said.

The gunman went over. Edward, still as a fly, buzzed the other gunman.

"How did that fly get in here?" the gunman snarled, swatting at Edward. The guy missed and continued on.

"On your feet," the gunman said, "Try anything and you're the first to die, got it?"

The customer nodded and got to his feet. The gunman shoved the man roughly towards the restroom door. Edward followed, of course.

The customer went into a stall to relieve himself, as the urinals aren't what he needed. The gunman, in a show of some dignity, allowed the man to close the stall door.

Edward landed and said to Raven, [Are you tuned in?]

[Yeah,] she said drolly, [I've always wanted to see the inside of a men's room.]

[Well, they will be one gunman down in about 15 seconds or so. Soon as this guy's down, phase him to the waiting police,] he instructed.

[With pleasure,] Raven said, [Just as long as I don't have to wait to see the other guy coming off a dump.]

[TMI, love], Edward said.

Edward resumed his human form and tapped the gunman on the shoulder.

"Surprise, dipstick!" Edward said and floored the gunman with one punch. He grabbed the weapon before it hit the floor and quickly disarmed the man.

[Now, Rae!] Edward said. Raven's black aura surrounded the gunman and he was gone a second later.

"You all right in there?" Edward whispered.

"Yeah," the guy responded, "Who are you?"

"Edward Barnes, of the Titans," he said, "Listen, don't be alarmed when you come out, I'll be looking like the gunman and sounding like him."

"All right," the guy said, "Name's Joe Tyler, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Joe," Edward said. He shapeshifted to the gunman and quickly attached the gunman's weapons.

"Hey, Mac!" Zach yelled, "That jerk fall in?"

"He had to take a dump!" Edward called back in the gunman's voice.

"He's got one minute to finish or you'll have to waste him as the first hostage killed. It's time," Zach said calmly, like he was ordering a sandwich.

"All right, Zach! Keep your shoes on!" Edward called out.

Joe came out a moment later, after flushing, of course.

"In front of me, please, " Edward said, "It's VERY important that you do everything they tell you. I'm not going to let anyone die, if at all possible. If they see through the ruse, things are going to change, very quickly. Forgive me, but, I may have to be rough with you."

[Rae, have the police ready to storm the building via teleport, just in case,] Edward said.

[Already done,] Raven said, [Hurry up, though, I sense the leader is getting worried…Look out! He's decided that he's waited long enough!]

Edward said, "Open the door, slowly."

Joe reached for the door and opened it as Zach was getting there.

"Took you long enough! Now, if you're done taking your crap, I want you over by the window…NOW!" Edward said.

Joe made a show of going slow and as Zach tried to reach for Joe's shirt, he barely had time to register the butt of Edward's newly acquired weapon whirling around and cracking him in the skull. Zach went down.

Edward kicked the weapons away and said, "Thanks Joe. Hit the dirt."

The other robbers looked stunned as their leader fell.

"What the heck are you doing?" another demanded.

"Placing you under arrest," Edward said, changing to mini-dragon and saying, "Drop your weapons, gentlemen…NOW!"

The man with the briefcase made a move and Edward said, "Don't even try it. I'll zap you first. Put the briefcase on the floor and kick it to me." Edward lit up his spinal ridges for effect.

The man complied and kicked the briefcase to Edward, who stopped it with a foot. The glow from the ridges faded away.

"Bank Manager, you may unlock the doors and the hostages may slowly get up. When I tell you to, and not before, exit in single file, hands where the police can see them as a precaution."

The manager stood up and unlocked the door. The now ex-hostages stood up but, didn't move yet.

[Let the police know that I have the robbers in custody and that the hostages will be coming out. Anything I need to relay?] Edward asked.

[Have the customers slowly come out of the bank. The police will be in right after them,] Raven said, [I'll teleport that briefcase to the bomb squad for disposal.]

Edward moved his foot as Raven phased in personally, covered the briefcase with her powers and phased out.

"OK, gunmen, on your bellies, arms out to your sides. Customers and employees are free to go. Do it slowly and please comply with any orders the officers give you. Thanks!" Edward said.

The customers slowly fled the building and officers raced in to take the gunmen into formal custody.

Needless to say, two gunmen would be waking up under heavy guard in the hospital.

Edward returned to his normal human form and looked around the building to see it was empty, but, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

He went over to the bank vault and realized it was closed in the middle of the day.

[Rae, ask the manager if the vault's supposed to be closed now, please,] he asked.

A moment later her mental imprint changed to somewhat agitated, [Oh no! He just did a head count and his assistant manager and another employee might be locked in there. There's a couple of customers missing as well.]

[How long have they been in there and can the vault be opened from the outside?] he asked.

[Since the robbery began an hour ago, the vault's air supply with that many people is not in jeopardy yet, but, the vault is on a time release. It can't be opened until the start of business on Monday,] she said sadly.

[Have the manager meet me inside, please,] he asked.

A minute later the manager came in, along with Raven.

"Jane Duncan," she said, "Thanks for stopping those guys."

"Edward Barnes," he said, "Do you have cameras inside the vault?"

"Of course we do…or did, the robbery destroyed the camera system," she said.

"I'm not up on how secure these doors are, sadly. I know they are airtight, so, I can't just use a small insect to get in. If I can't see in, I can't teleport, but, Raven should be able to phase through," Edward said.

"You know I can," Raven said with a playful smack, "I'll get them out."

She walked to the vault door and phased through it like it wasn't even there.

A few seconds later, she came back with the missing folks. Edward smiled at his girlfriend.

**[Tower – living room]**

As all this was going on, Robin and the others were watching events playing out on the TV and listening on the scanners.

They saw Raven's initial teleport to the scene and after talking to the police, they saw Edward disappear. They saw Raven pull her communicator out

"Raven calling Robin" she said.

"Robin here, report, please," he asked.

"Edward's shapeshifted to a fly and heading in," she said, "I'll know more in a few minutes, I think."

"Can you use that link you and he have to see what he sees?" Robin asked.

"Of course," Raven deadpanned, "Being linked like this does have its advantages, and disadvantages.

"OK, Edward's inside now. He's flying around and I'm seeing several hostages as well as 4…no 5 heavily armed gunmen."

Robin saw Raven get the same look she'd get when Edward was silently talking to her. She turned to someone off screen and relayed what Edward was seeing.

"Whoa!" Raven said, "One of the gunmen almost swatted Edward out of the air. One of the hostages needs to use the restroom.

"OK, I don't need to know that!" she groused.

"What," Robin said.

"The customer's needing to use the throne, I don't have to describe that, do I?"

"NO!" the others shouted.

"Stand by," Raven said, then a moment later, "Edward's going on the offensive. The gunman in the restroom just got knocked into next week."

Robin and the team saw Raven teleport the gunman, disarmed into the waiting hands of the police.

That got a smile out of the rest of the team. But, the drama was still unfolding inside the bank itself.

"Edward's talking to the guy in the restroom now," Raven said. She got an alarmed look on her face, just long enough for Robin to see it.

"Blast!" she said a moment later, "The leader of this team just ordered that the guy Edward's talking to be the first executed."

"Tell Edward to hurry up!" Robin said.

"No need, Boy Wonder," Raven said calmly, "They just left the restroom. Edward's knocked the leader out with the butt of a gun…He's shapeshifted to his miniature Dragon form and threatened the man with a briefcase with a serious lightning. I can actually FEEL his spine ridges glowing. Man's sliding the briefcase to Edward. His ridges have stopped glowing."

"Get that briefcase, Raven," Robin ordered.

"All right," she said. She left the communicator active while she got the briefcase and turned it over to the bomb squad.

Within a few minutes, the hostages were released, the other Titans were cheering (especially Starfire, of course, who was flying around the room happily.)

Cops flooded into the building and came out with the remaining robbers, two carried out on stretchers. One sporting a bruised jaw, the other with a bandage on his head.

"Edward packs a punch, I see," Kole said.

"That he does indeed," Robin said, "You should have seen him fighting another dragon a couple months ago."

"Actually," Cyborg said, "Edward's the only other Titan that can keep up with me in my weight room."

"How's that?" Kole asked.

"My personal weights are in the ton range," he explained, "Even in his human form, he can lift them pretty easily."

"What's the maximum you think he can lift?" Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg thought about it and shrugged his shoulders, "His toughest fight was Malchior and he had help from Terra at the end. He probably didn't need the help, but, Raven had reminded him that he needs to let us do some of the work."

"He's used to working alone?" Kole asked.

"I think so," Terra said, "He has to make an effort to step aside and allow us to work together. But, I know when it comes to Raven, he's quite protective. Kind of like Beast Boy is with me. What I like is that Edward's so respectful of the other members of the team."

Beast Boy nodded, "Whenever he cooks for the team, he makes a vegan version for me, and unlike some other cooks here, doesn't spike it with meat drippings. Everyone gets what they like."

"In fights," Robin said, "He and Beast Boy team up. Last time we encountered Dr. Light, they knocked him right next to Raven, the only member of the team he's deathly afraid of."

"Why is that?" Kole asked.

"Well, he saw what a truly enraged Raven is like," Robin said.

"Yes, sister Raven's most fearsome when the rage comes on her," Starfire said.

"Gnarrk?" he asked.

"He wants to know how bad Raven gets," Kole translated.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, "Hope you don't find out. She dragged Light into her cloak. When she snapped out of it and released the guy, he was terrified."

Terra scoffed, "I saw Raven enraged and lived to tell the tale."

"Only because you almost drowned her," Robin said, "But, that's been forgiven, so, let's drop it, Terra."

"Please, Terra," Starfire said, "Sister Raven would not like you bringing that up."

Terra slumped, "Sorry."

"The only one who hasn't seen her that mad is Edward," Cyborg said, "But, I kind of doubt she'd let him see that side of her now unless there was no choice. She's been more forgiving around him."

As they were talking, Raven teleported into the bank again.

"We've got a minor hitch," she said over the communicator, "Some folks are trapped in the vault and Edward can't get in without tearing the place apart."

"Understood, Raven," Robin said, "I know you can handle this problem."

Robin was glad that he sent Raven at that point. The team was under some pressure to keep damage down and he knew that Raven would phase through the vault, if necessary.

"How long has Edward been on the team?" Kole asked. She was interested in Edward, but, knew that he was taken. So, she determined to be friends with him. She didn't have to worry too much about that, as Edward already considered her a friend.

"He's been with us almost two months already and definitely earned our trust. He was the one that sensed Terra was still alive and helped free her," Robin replied.

"What happened, Terra?" Kole asked.

"It's a long story," the geomancer replied, "Short version, I let myself be led astray by a guy named Slade, I tried to murder the team, they defeated me, Slade beat me, took control over my body …" Terra choked up.

Kole put her arm around Terra and said, "It's all right. You don't have to continue if you don't want to."

Terra took a deep breath and regained control.

"No, I have to continue. I did terrible things, Kole. Slade and I terrorized the city. But, when Slade took control of my body, I realized how terrible it was. I realized that I actually loved Beast Boy and the rest of the team. I broke his control, but, at a major price," she said.

"My powers triggered a volcano and as the Titans retreated…" She choked up again.

"Terra hugged me," Beast Boy said, "And said good-bye. She watched as Slade was initially killed by the lava and sacrificed herself. She was turned to stone and was that way for over three years.

"Edward was impressed by her actions and, well, wanted to pay his respects. He sensed a faint vibration that Raven couldn't detect. We joined forces to revive her."

"Wow," Kole said, "What can't Edward do?"

"Oh, he has his moments," Robin said, "We're not sure what his limits are. He's family and he returns that feeling a hundredfold. We've seen his draconic temper in action. He's very protective of Raven and if there's a threat that she's unable to handle, whatever the threat is will be lucky to walk away. Raven was attacked by another dragon named Malchior and Edward took that very personally. With Raven unable to fight, Edward and Terra literally buried him. But, he's just as protective of the rest of us."

Terra piped up, "No kidding! He's even helped me. I found out that Slade was alive, thanks to Raven's father. He helped me get a measure of revenge…not just for myself, but, the rest of the team. No offense, Beast Boy, but, if things were different, you'd be dating Raven and I might be dating him. But, you captured my heart a long time ago."

"None taken, hon," Beast Boy said, "Edward and Raven make a great couple and an equally great team."

By then, Raven was back on the communicator, "We're heading back shortly. Everyone in the vault is safe, so we'll let the police handle things from here."

"Good work," Robin said with a smile and signed off.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Raven's soul-self appeared and released Edward.

"That was interesting," he said.

"What was?" Robin asked.

"That whole situation," Edward replied, "I expected more of a fight. Then again, I'm glad things went as easy as they did. No shots fired, no one seriously hurt."

Kole looked curious and Edward figured out why.

"Those two will recover, Kole," he said, "I'm fully capable of keeping my strength to human levels to avoid hurting someone or to knock someone out for a few hours."

"How did you know I was going to ask that?" Kole said.

"I guessed, actually," he replied.

Raven rolled her violet eyes and said, "I'll be in my room. I need to meditate for a while." She let Edward know that he was welcome to join her, if he wanted to.

He decided to take a pass this time around as he wanted to get to know more about their new guest…

* * *

><p>OK...Had to throw in one action scene, right? LOL. The rest is going to be more fluff than action for the team. Edward needs the break as much as the rest of the team, but, he's got one more "major" thing to do in this story. Cyborg should be afraid here, but, he doesn't know what's about to hit his taste buds, and what he doesn't know won't get Edward hurt too badly...until he takes the first bite of whatever Edward has planned.<p>

In fact, I'm willing to hold off on that chapter for a few days to let the peanut gallery chime in for this part. What should Edward fix for Cyborg? Remember that in the series, Cyborg eats pretty much anything (see what he devoured in "Crash" and then in "Trouble in Tokyo") so a straight quantity challenge is out. It can be a spicy challenge or a combination spicy/quantity challenge. It needs to be timed, as well. It can be based off "Man vs Food" or an original challenge. The best one will be written in.

With that said, have fun and thanks for reading :)


	3. Kole copes and Edward makes plans

**Chapter 3  
>[Later that evening.]<strong>

Edward had fixed a spaghetti dinner for the Titans (meatless for Beast Boy, Kole and Gnarrk) that evening and Kole indicated that she loved it immensely.

"Edward," she said, "Can I ask you a few things?"

"Please do, Kole," Edward said with a smile.

"Well, I hope you don't mind my asking the others about you," she said with a blush.

"Of course not," Edward said, "You're a friend and part of the extended family, far as I'm concerned. That goes for Gnarrk as well." That got a smile out of the bug guy. Luckily for the Titans, Gnarrk had been to the Tower before and was used to the technology. It still frightened him when he wasn't expecting it to do something.

During the day, though, the team as a whole was helping him by letting him know what to expect so it didn't frighten him too badly.

Also, Raven had emerged from her meditation session. She was a little put off when Edward didn't join her, but, she decided to let it slide given that they had guests.

[Sorry, Rae,] he said to her.

[It's all right,] she said, [I know you want to get to know Kole and Gnarrk better.]

"I don't even know where to begin," Kole said, "The rest of the team is really impressed with you."

"Thanks," Edward replied.

Kole stood up for a moment. She was overwhelmed by everything that was going on.

[She's having trouble coping,] Rae said.

Edward sighed, [I was afraid of that. Too much for the young lady.]

"You all right?" Robin asked.

"I will be," Kole said, "It's just so much to take in. It's like a dream or something."

"We have plenty of time, Kole," Edward said gently, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"It's all right," she said, "I'm just overwhelmed by what I've seen of your abilities. The link between you and Raven, teleportation, languages, the breath weapons, shapeshifting, how old you are and still able to have a relationship."

"Come here, please," Edward said, "All of you."

Kole came close and he put his hands on her shoulders, very gently.

Edward took a deep breath and started, "Every member of the Titans brings a very unique talent to the table. Kole, you can do something that no one else here can…In fact, two very special traits. You have your crystal form for one. No one else here has that ability. You understanding your best friend is the other one. I know I can't intercept whatever link you and he have.

"Starfire can shoot those Starbolts and she's the only one with that ability. Cyborg's just all around unique with his implants. Beast Boy while he and I share the shapeshifting traits, I don't expect him to transform into me and have my breath weapons.

"None of you know this, but, when I use the fire breath, it does burn me a bit. Same with the lightning breath. Ice doesn't hurt as much. But, I'm used to that and it doesn't bother me anymore.

"Raven shares a few traits with me, the teleportation, telepathy and empathy, as well as an ability to heal people.

"But, Robin is the glue that holds this team together. What he lacks in superhuman abilities, he makes up for in that he was trained by the World's best detective. He's got the drive and desire to keep moving forward, even when the odds are against the team.

"It's what each one has to offer freely that makes the team as good as it is. But, even if I were to quit the team, they survived before I arrived and I know they could continue on without me."

Kole replied softly, "Thanks, but, it doesn't make me feel much better."

"What's wrong?" Robin asked.

"I'm not sure," she said, "I'm feeling a little dizzy for some reason."

She swayed on her feet and collapsed. Edward eased her down and quickly checked her pulse and respirations.

"She fainted," Edward said after a moment, "She'll be fine. Let's put some pillows under her feet for a few minutes."

Gnarrk looked worried. "It's OK, my friend," Cyborg said, "Kole will wake up in a moment."

Sure enough, she came around a few minutes later.

"What a dream," she muttered, then realized she was still in the Tower and looking right at Edward.

She scooted back, "This isn't a dream, is it?"

Edward shook his head, "I'm afraid not, little lady. You passed out. I'd prefer it if you called it a night, please. You'll be able to sleep on everything you learned and it'll be easier in the morning."

Kole stood up and swayed again.

"Easy does it," Edward said, taking Kole by the shoulder, "You've had a shock, and, for that I apologize. Not everyone can get used to me right away."

Gnarrk moved closer and Edward thought he saw a hint of anger there.

"She's fine," Edward said, "I think your friend is just tired. I'll let you take her, if that's what you'd like."

Gnarrk nodded and scooped his friend up like she was a piece of paper.

"I'll go with him," Raven said. Robin nodded, "Good idea, Raven."

After they left, Edward started pacing the floor himself. He was upset that Kole was having a difficult time with his abilities.

"Friend Edward, you are upset, yes?" Starfire asked.

"A little," he replied, "I don't like seeing new friends struggling with what I truly am. I've had to face this for the last 150 years or so since I revealed myself publicly. It wasn't like I had a choice at the time, given I was caught in a flood and had to break loose, then, rescue people...some rightfully scared out of their minds. I should be used to it, dammit!"

He sighed, "My apologies, Starfire. I shouldn't be venting on you with bad language."

[Edward, my dear,] Raven said calmly, [Kole will just need a day to get used to it. Don't beat yourself up. Please, sweetheart, calm yourself. I can sense your frustration here.]

Edward took a deep breath and started to calm down, using Raven's mantra to help him focus. He discovered that when he said "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," it helped. Edward quit pacing and sat down.

He turned his attention towards the food challenge he was going to spring on Cyborg the next day. There was a little bit of research that was involved, so, he said, "I got a really interesting meal planed for tomorrow night, friends. You'll love it, but, with respect, this time, it needs to be a surprise."

"Aw, come on man!" Cyborg complained, "What's it going to be?"

"Sorry, that's on a need-to-know basis, and don't even think of asking Raven. She's sworn to secrecy," Edward said, dangling a rather interesting hook in front of him.

"It's not that tofu stuff, is it?" Cyborg said.

"No, it will involve meat," Edward said, jiggling the hook just a little bit.

"In fact, I need to go get the stuff for the challenge as I know we don't have that here in a little while," Edward said with a smile, "You guys need anything?"

That turned into a loaded question as everyone put in some requests.

"It's going to be a while before I leave, though," Edward said, "Probably about 30 minutes."

Edward had decided on what to get for the food challenge he was going to propose to Cyborg and, boy, would it be interesting to see.

Edward hopped online to get the location of the place he needed to teleport to and decided to call first.

He pulled the cell phone out of his drawer and dialed the number.

"Munchies 4:20 Cafe," a friendly voice said, "How may I help you?"

"Hi, this is Edward Barnes, with the Teen Titans. I have an interesting question for you: I recently watched an episode of 'Man v. Food' where the host was roundly beaten by your 'Fire in your Hole' challenge. Would it be possible to get two orders of that to go? One of my team mates needs to be humbled a bit," Edward said.

"Let me ask my manager real quick," the woman on the other end said.

A moment later she came back, "I'm sorry, we usually require the person taking this challenge to be here at the cafe."

Edward frowned to himself, "Drat. I'd probably have to bring the entire team there, then. I didn't want my friend getting distracted. Could I at least get some of the sauce and I could make it here?"

She talked to her boss and a moment later, "That's not a problem. It's a bit unusual of a request, but, the boss said he's willing to do that for you. When would you be getting this?"

"Give me about 10 minutes?" he asked.

"Sure thing," she said, "How much would you want?"

"Enough for a double order, at least," Edward said, "I have a feeling that he'd insist on my taking part as well."

"Not a problem," she said.

"How much would that cost me?" he asked.

"The boss said it'd be $5.00 + tax," she replied.

"That'd be worth it, then," Edward replied, "I'll be there in 10 minutes. See you then."

"Take care," the woman said and hung up.

Edward smiled ferally to himself. Cyborg had no idea what was in store for him.

* * *

><p><em>Sigh...Between writer's block and my main computer having a sick HD makes for a difficult story to write. At least I moved my story archive to the external drive.<em>

_Thanks for having the patience to wait for this...and even one person located the lead-off story and favorited it! That made my day recently._

_FYI: The cafe mention here was featured in season 2 of Man v. Food. The host got through two of the 10 wings and went for the milk...ending the challenge. Will Cyborg know what hit him? Wasabi is quite mild compared to what will be described in the next chapter. And, we'll be going back to Kole...she needed the "girl-talk" time with Raven._

_See ya soon :)  
><em>


	4. Plans Pizza and Gizmo

**Chapter 4  
>[Kole's room – same day.]<strong>

Kole and Raven were in the middle of a long talk along with Starfire and Terra. Kole was full of questions regarding Edward.

"Edward doesn't bite," Raven said, "Unless he's in Dragon form and ticked at an enemy, that is. You don't need to worry about that. He already considers you to be part of his family. He forms friendly bonds quickly unless there's a reason for him to consider someone an enemy. You should have seen what he did to Malchior."

"Who?" Kole said.

"Another dragon," Raven said, "He was trapped in a book and I was tricked and lied to in order to free him. After a fight, I was able to get him back in the book. Somehow, he escaped and the first thing he did was attack my mind. Edward counterattacked and drove Malchior out.

"Then, he and the rest of the team fought Malchior in the desert. Terra, from what I heard, opened a crack in the ground and dumped Malchior along with half a mountain. That killed Malchior."

"Wow," Kole said, "You'd think that Edward would be happy to have another dragon."

"Friend Edward knew Malchior was not nice," Starfire said, "He's most protective of sister Raven. Malchior deserved what he got!"

"Sister?" Kole asked, "That's new."

"I had to exile my real sister from Tamaran a few years ago," Starfire said sadly, "Blackfire had stolen the crown and I had to challenge her for it. I won and kicked her off planet forever with the greatest of regrets. Raven's the closest thing I have now to a sister."

Raven smiled hearing that one. This was the first time she'd heard Starfire say why she changed from "Friend Raven" to "Sister Raven". Raven was quite happy with that as she and Starfire had a special bond, even more special then what was between her and Edward.

While they were talking, there was a knock at the door.

"Who's there?" Kole asked.

"Just Edward," he said, "I'm heading off on some errands and want to know if you girls want anything?"

Everyone shook their heads and Raven said, "We're good, dear. Thanks!"

"All right," he said, "I'll have a communicator on me in case you change your mind, or Raven can use our link if need be."

Raven said, "Have you decided on what to do with Cyborg?"

"Yeppers," he said.

"Glorious!" Starfire said, floating over to Edward, "You must tell me what you're going to do?"

"No way, Koriand'r," Edward said, "I want Cyborg surprised. It's a secret. I haven't even told Rae."

"Not even in my native language?" she asked.

"Nope," Edward said, "Not even if your k'norfka were standing here threatening me."

Starfire's face fell, "Darn it."

However...there was one other person and she wasn't saying anything out loud, but, Edward could tell at least one of Raven's emotions was looking forward to it.

[You'd tell me, though, right?] Happy asked.

[Not a word, Happy,] Edward admonished, [If Cyborg suspects anything, he might not bite. Then, again, he might enjoy it.]

[Whatcha got planned?] Raven's happy emotion asked, [I gotta know!]

[Happy, don't bother Edward!] Raven said sternly, [I don't mind you girls using the link, but, DON'T BOTHER HIM! He's got something planned and if he wants us to know, he'd tell me.]

[Trust me, Happy,] Edward said, [You'll love it.]

[Hatred shall consume him!] Hate said angrily.

[Nah, I know Cyborg well enough to know that what I got planned, after his initial reaction, will either laugh out loud, call me a few choice names...hopefully none in front of Kole, or both,] Edward replied.

[Bah!] Rude said, [I bet you can't go through with it, moron.]

[You don't know me very well, then, do you, little Miss Insult?] Edward retorted.

[Go suck an egg,] Rude replied.

[That's quite enough!] Raven snarled, [Go meditate somewhere, Rude. I don't want to hear it.]

[It's all right, dear,] Edward said, [I've been called worse.]

[Well, Yo momma's so fat, that when she farts, Al Gore accuses her of global warming, dawg! *PHEW!*] Rude said.

[Forgive me, Raven, for this comeback line. Rude: Yo Momma's so hairy that the only language she speaks is WOOKIE!] Edward said. Raven saw his mental presence starting to head into the annoyed stage, though. It lasted for a moment then faded a little bit.

[Good one!] Happy piped up and busted out laughing.

[Rude, take a hike before I decide that you and Rage can be roomies,] Raven said. Then, even she broke out laughing.

[Dear...when we have some time, I'm taking you to Azarath. Mom will love you,] Raven said after she caught her breath.

[I'd like that, Rae,] Edward said, [Thanks for not being offended.]

[Why would I be, dear?] Raven asked, [Rude started it and that was a great comeback line. Coming from you...I can overlook it. Beast Boy would have gotten a smack.]

[Might have to go through Terra, though, to do that,] Edward remarked.

[Nah,] Raven said with a giggle, [She's already said that if he needs smacked for saying something stupid or annoying to me, to go for it.]

[HA HA HA!] Edward laughed.

Edward loved this seeing this side of Raven. She was so much fun at times. Granted that she was far more reserved on the outside, she had finally figured out that she could let who she was meant to be out finally. Trigon's influence was no longer a factor and, well, Raven was slowly coming out of her shell. Edward inwardly hoped that the team would accept the changes and in the process see her as less creepy to be around.

The others were puzzled by the sudden smirks on both Raven and Edward's faces.

"Please," Starfire said, "share why you are laughing."

"Should I?" Edward asked Raven.

"Why not?" she retorted.

"One of Raven's emotions thought she'd best me in a verbal putdown contest," he said, "I won and Raven was telling me that she'd allow me to say a 'Yo mama' joke to her rude emotion, but, if Beast Boy tried it, he'd get a smack.

"I said that she'd have to go through Terra first, but, Terra said..."

Terra finished the statement, "If Beast Boy does something stupid to Raven or says a dumb joke, she could go for it."

Terra, Raven and Kole all chuckled while poor Starfire looked really lost.

"What is a 'Yo Mama' joke?" she asked.

"Well, Star, it's more of an insult to ones mother," Kole explained, "Sometimes, it's meant in good fun, if the people know one another well. Sometimes, it's used to start a fight, though."

"So, I shouldn't say that to someone here at the Tower?" Starfire asked.

"Not a good idea," Edward replied, "Especially to your boyfriend. He would get most upset."

What the team didn't know is that Edward had looked up "Richard Grayson" recently, with his permission and knew that his parents were killed in a freak accident at a circus, later determined to be an intentional act. He also knew that Bruce Wayne took Richard in as his ward. That lead to the conclusion that Bruce Wayne moonlighted as the Batman. That information, he wasn't going to divulge to anyone.

He did let Robin know, privately, that fact though...

**[Two days after "Titans v. Slade"]**

"Robin," Edward said, "Got a few moments?"

"Sure," Robin said, "Let's go into my office."

They headed to his office and went in.

"Dick," Edward said, "There's something that I think you have a right to know, even if it angers you."

"What would that be," Robin said, peeling off his mask and rubbing his eyes. Edward raised an eyebrow as Robin **never** removed his mask.

"Well, the first thing is, I know this is very belated, but, please accept my condolences on the loss of your mom and dad," Edward said.

"Thank you, Edward," Dick replied, "That's very kind of you. I still miss my parents, but, it was a long time ago."

"This leads me to what could anger you, and, for that, I apologize for in advance. But, you also have my word as a gentlemen that what I tell you, goes no further. I figured out that Bruce Wayne is Batman."

Dick looked at Edward with eyes of steel, "I'm going to hold you to that promise. I knew that you'd figure things out. Batman's very protective of his other identity and were it to get out, his enemies would move to attack his friends...and wards. None of the other Titans are to know, except Raven. I trust her as much as I trust you. I told you my civilian identity and even removed my mask out of trust. So, I'm not angry. I will introduce you at some point, though. Bruce deserves to know that you're in on the secret."

"Is that why he bought out my apartment's lease?" Edward asked.

"Your reputation precedes you, Edward," Dick said, "I told Bruce that you were on my team and needed out of your lease. He didn't hesitate to find out how much it would cost and wrote your former landlord a check for double the amount."

"Let him know, please, that I will reim..." Edward said, but, Dick cut across him.

"Absolutely not!" Dick said, "Bruce is a multibillionaire. He doesn't expect repayment and he told me point blank that he wouldn't accept it. He has a lot of respect for you."

"Why did you leave, then?" Edward asked.

"It's a long story," Dick said, "The short version is that I was tired of being in his shadow, as you realized already. I had to leave and it wasn't on the best of terms, but, he did tell me that I still had access to him as needed. He even wished me the best of luck."

There was a knock and Dick put the mask back on before saying, "It's open!"

Starfire floated in, "Friend Edward! I didn't know you and boyfriend Robin were doing the boy talk. I'll come back."

Edward got up, "It's all right, Starfire, I had to tell Robin something. I'm finished here."

"Thanks," Starfire said and gave Edward a quick hug as well.

**[Tower Entrance]**

Edward had his list of things to get for the little food challenge the next day as well as the other items that were requested.

He morphed into a mini-dragon and teleported to Sarasota, FL and landed outside Munchies 4:20 Cafe and when he returned to human form, he went in and saw someone at the counter.

"Hi, Welcome to Munchies," she said. Edward recognized the voice, though.

"Hi, I'm Edward Barnes," he said, "I called about picking up some of the sauce for your challenge."

"Ah," she said, "We have your double order of the sauce here with the actual challenge rules, if you want this to be for-real.

"I have to warn you, though. This sauce is extremely hot in terms of spices. I hope that your friend has a cast iron stomach. When Adam Richman was here, he got through two wings and, well, you know what happened."

"I sure do," Edward said with a chuckle. Edward was pleased with himself as he handed the girl $10 and said she could keep the change.

He left a few moments later and opened one of the containers and took a whiff.

_Holy Crap!_ He thought to himself.

[What's wrong, dear?] Raven asked.

[Just smelled this chicken wing sauce,] he replied, [Cyborg's in for it now. My nose is actually running a bit.]

[Oh, wow!] she replied with a laugh, [Never thought I'd hear you say that, my love.]

[I might be immortal, but, there are things that will cause a very human reaction, dear,] he said, [I just have to keep Cy from finding this till tomorrow.]

[I do have a fridge in my room, you know,] she said. Edward was the only Titan that Raven allowed in her room. Anyone else risked being shipped to another dimension...if they were lucky.

[Good!] Edward said, [That should keep Cyborg or BB from getting too curious.]

Edward morphed back to dragon and said, [Meet me at the roof, please.]

[Will do,] she said.

He teleported to the Tower's roof and was in time to see Raven's soul-self emerging.

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek after morphing back and said, "Anyone see you?"

"No," she drawled, "I teleported from my room and that's where I'm going next. They won't suspect a thing."

"All right," Edward smiled, "I'll be back in about 30 minutes or so. Need anything?

"I know I asked a while ago, hon. I just want to be sure, that's all."

"We're sure. You better get going before the others wonder what's going on," Raven said.

"All right," Edward said and after a change back to Dragon, headed off to complete his shopping for the day.

**[Two hours later]**

Edward completed his shopping and headed back to the Tower. His first stop was his room where he put the chicken wings away as well as the milk he was sure he'd need for the next day. He also put away the various drinks that he used to help put his friends minds at ease. One of his unofficial duties was more of a counselor where the other Titans could come in and talk about whatever was bugging them.

After that, he took the rest out to the main fridge and put those away.

"I see you got the tofu and soy milk," Beast Boy said, "Along with the peanut butter and jam."

"Just like you asked for," Edward said. "I also got the other Titans some goodies."

"What ya got planned for dinner?" Terra asked.

"Well, we did spaghetti last night, so that's out," Edward said, "But, I still have plenty of sauce. How does homemade pizza sound?"

"Awesome!" both teenagers said.

"Don't worry, Beast Boy," Edward said, "I still have some vegan sauce left as well."

Beast Boy let out a sigh, "Thanks, dude!"

With that, Edward got out the bowls he needed for the pizza makings. He preferred to make the dough the traditional way, so he busied himself with that project.

As he was spinning the dough, the others came in and startled Edward in the process. The dough was in mid air when that happened and a split second before the dough would have smacked Edward in the face, the dough was covered in Raven's black energy and set down on the floured pizza tin.

"Thanks, Rae!" he said.

"Don't mention it," she said drily, "Need any help?"

"Come on back," he invited his girlfriend. Raven's cooking skills were showing improvement, but, as much as he wanted to, he knew she wasn't quite ready to cook on her own. He figured in another week or so, he'd step aside for a meal and let her cook while he did the prep work.

Raven stepped back behind the counter and Edward started explaining to her and the others what he was doing. He was also preheating the oven for the pizza. He'd paid to have a true pizza oven installed recently and told the team that it was only for pizza or other Italian pies as it tended to get extremely hot.

Edward prepared more pizza crusts and got those ready.

"Yo! BB!" Edward called out, "You want a white pizza or with the sauce?"

"Dude," he said, "Your sauce is the bomb!"

"Answered that question, then," Edward said, "Rae, get me the sauce in the green container as well as the various pizza toppings for BB, please. We'll do his first prep wise."

Raven silently complied and using her powers, levitated the items to Edward.

Edward got a ladle down and scooped out some of the vegan sauce and spread it around the dough. He then got the soy cheese and sprinkled that on top. He noticed that some of the veggies needed chopped and said, "Can you chop the onions and peppers for me please?"

Raven got a Miracle Blade III knife out and started chopping the veggies.

"Careful, dear," Edward said, "Those are sharp enough to take a finger off and you'd never know it until afterward."

"I know, sweetheart," Raven said. It didn't take her long to chop up the veggies and hand them to Edward.

"Not bad," he commented, "These are pretty close to how I'd cut them and will work quite well."

He spread the veggies on the pizza and gave the edge of the crust a brush of garlic infused margarine. He added some extra cheese for effect then, set the pie aside.

He then moved on to the non vegan pizzas and asked Raven to get out the other sauce with meat in it along with the sausage, pepperoni, sliced ham and other meat products. That would be for Cyborg mainly. Edward pondered getting his secret weapon, but, that would be for tomorrow.

Well, 15 minutes later, Edward had crafted pies for everyone's taste, including Kole and Gnarrk who looked at the vegan pizzas in awe.

"You go all out for the team, huh?" Kole asked.

"They deserve it, Kole," Edward said, "I know that I can basically feed these guys a lot of calories and they get burned off."

"Gnarrk!" the caveman said.

"He says he's hungry!" Kole translated, followed by a loud grumbling sound...from Cyborg.

"Yo! I'm hungry!" he said.

"Keep your joints lubed, man," Edward said with a smile, "These won't take long to cook.

"Rae, if you would do the honors, please."

Raven smiled softly and after opening the oven door, levitated the pies into the 850 degree oven. That would bake the pies in five minutes, leaving them a nice golden brown and cooked through. Edward also used traditional pizza cooking stones that were also preheated. That cut the cooking time down as well.

Five minutes later, Edward took the pies out of the oven and nodded his head, "Perfect!" He placed the pizzas down and turned off the oven, hitting a switch that turned on a fan that started venting the very hot air to the outside. It would turn off when the oven temp dropped to 150 degrees

He took down a pizza cutter and proceeded to slice the pies into eight pieces and Raven took down the plates and silverware. She set them up along the counter and it only took a few moments to get everyone served.

Well, the pizzas were happily eaten by everyone and within a half hour folks were sitting back with full stomachs.

That was good as the klaxons sounded again.

"Titans, Trouble," Robin said as the team got up to pull the information.

Edward was looking at the screen as what appeared to be a young boy with a bunch of gadgets attached to his back was causing havoc in the downtown area along with some sort of electrical field, and a guy with a division sign on his chest

[Gizmo, Billy Numerous and Overload, dear], Raven said, sensing Edward's curiosity.

"Edward, Beast Boy and Cyborg are with me," Robin said, "Raven will stay back with the others for backup. Kole, if need be, we might need you and Gnarrk as well. Overload's the more dangerous of the two."

"Robin, I absorb electricity, remember? It gives added punch to my lightning breath," Edward said.

"True," Robin said with a chuckle, "Let's roll, guys."

They ran for the roof and Edward morphed to dragon. Cyborg and Robin got on as Beast Boy morphed into an eagle.

"Get on, BB," Edward said, "I'm teleporting and I don't want a tired team mate."

Beast Boy flew over and landed on Cyborg's arm. Edward took to the air and teleported a moment later.

**[Downtown]**

Edward emerged from the teleport and landed.

"What are you, lizard-breath?" Gizmo asked.

"Probably your worst nightmare," Edward said.

"Oh, the lizard can talk," Overload said, "I wonder what fried iguana smells like." Overload fired a blast of lightning that was absorbed by Edward's scales and Gizmo's jaw dropped.

"The scuzzbrain absorbs electricity!" he exclaimed.

Edward's spines lit up and the other Titans jumped down in a hurry.

Edward returned fire at Gizmo, who dove out of the way just in time. The Titans noticed the lightning looked stronger as well.

Edward said, "Nice try, kid."

"Where's the other buttmunchers?" Gizmo asked.

"They're home, kid," Edward said, "Why don't you play nice, eh?"

"Go suck an egg!" Gizmo said and launched several rockets. Edward allowed the shells to hit and explode.

"What the f-" Gizmo started to say.

"Hey! Watch the language," Edward said.

"How?" Gizmo exclaimed as Edward merely flapped his wings and cleared the air.

"Guess you didn't get the memo," Edward said, "Diamond hard scales, sonny. Your little pea shooters aren't going to penetrate."

"Yeah, well, you fart smelling lizard, try these!" Gizmo said, switching to lasers. Edward countered by going to his silver colored scales. The lasers reflected back to their source, causing a small explosion as the laser generator was destroyed.

Gizmo screamed, "YOU SCUZZ FOR BRAINS! Guys, get them!"

"With pleasure!" the electrical chip said.

"Hey, Overload," Cyborg said, "I got something for you." Cyborg opened a fire hydrant and aimed the stream of water straight at him. Soon as the water hit, Cyborg shut the stream off. There was a huge crackling noise as Overload shorted out and Edward walked to the fallen chip and tossed it to Robin, who put the chip in a non-conductive bag. That went into the utility belt.

Billy Numerous merely said, "You might have the strength, but, we have the numbers!"

"Four against two?" Edward said, "You don't even have th...What the hell?"

Billy Numerous cloned himself into at least ten others.

"Edward," Robin said, "Call Raven, please."

"You got it. Rest of the team?" Edward asked.

"Yeah," Robin said.

"You're not going to get the chance to call," Gizmo said, "Attack!"

With that the fight was on in full force. What Gizmo and Billy didn't know was the telepathic link was available.

[Rae,] Edward said, throwing off a couple Billys, [We need backup. Bring everyone, Kole and Gnarrk as well, if they want to help.]

[Be right there,] Raven replied.

About a minute later, everyone saw Raven's soul-self appearing and let the others out.

"What?" Gizmo exclaimed, "We didn't give you an opportunity to call them!"

"Sorry, that's our secret weapon," Raven deadpanned.

Terra's eyes and hands started glowing. Same with Starfire and then Raven powered up.

Edward threw a Billy onto several others, knocking them down.

Gizmo fired off more rockets. Those rockets were intercepted by Kole's crystal form, boomeranged in by Gnarrk.

"Her again?" one of the Billys said, giving himself away as the original in the process.

"Yes, me again!" Kole said angrily, "Think I wouldn't remember you invading my home and frightening Gnarrk like you did?"

"Gnarrk!" he said as well.

Edward returned to human form and said, "Gnarrk, toss Kole over here, please."

Kole quickly shifted back to crystal form and Gnarrk tossed her to Edward.

"Come get some," Edward said, with a menacing smile on his face. The now large amount of Billys obliged the team.

[You have to knock out the original, dear] Raven said, [If you don't, he can clone himself for a while.]

Gizmo continued to fire missiles and when he ran out, he had some other tricks up his sleeve to confound the team.

This was one fight, though, that Edward couldn't stand aside and let the others finish it, as each Billy was engaging all the Titans.

Edward was trying to pinpoint the original to take him down, but, there was too much "static" from the telepathic aspect.

[I can't find him,] Edward said, [You have any luck?]

[No, I have to be able to concentrate to do that and I can't do that and use my powers,] Raven said as she threw a couple of the clones into the side of a building.

Starfire was hard pressed to keep clones off her and Robin. Terra was tearing up the street as well, causing several clones to either be clobbered or to fall in.

Beast Boy was also having a hard time. He was getting the bum's rush regardless of form.

Little did anyone know, Edward had been teaching Beast Boy how to adapt one new form and that was a dragon. Edward felt that if Beast Boy could form a second dragon, it would be a major benefit to the team.

"Beast Boy!" Edward called out, "Go Dragon!"

Suddenly, there was a large GREEN dragon in their midst as Edward copied the move.

"You should have my harder scales, man," Edward said, "Let's take care of business."

"You taught that fuzznuts your form?" Gizmo exclaimed.

"Not just that," Edward said, "Time for little boy geniuses to go chill out."

Beast Boy had asked Edward to teach him one breath weapon. The ice breath wouldn't hurt Beast Boy and as the team watched and the Billy clones as well, Edward and Beast Boy fired ice at Gizmo. He tried to get out of the way with his helicopter only to discover Kole's crystal form heading for him. She slammed into the blades and they snapped off, causing poor Gizmo to be encased in ice.

With the minor threat taken care of, Beast Boy morphed to a T-Rex and Edward formed a gorilla.

The fight was back on. The team was plowing through clones and finally, Terra got lucky and hit the original in the head with a clump of earth, knocking him down and out. The clones looked shocked and the all merged back into Billy himself.

"Good job, Terra!" Robin cheered. The two shapeshifters returned to their normal human forms.

"Way to go, Terra!" Beast Boy said, giving his girlfriend a hug and spun her around happily.

"Booya!" Cyborg said.

Edward put his arm around Raven's waist and kissed her on the cheek, which was returned.

"Next time we do pizza, I know who gets the last slice," Edward said to Raven.

"She's earned it," Raven said with a soft smile, "Terra's not the same girl from before."

"She'd got a family now, dear," Edward replied softly.

Robin had secured Billy and Gizmo was still muttering a few choice words.

"You know, Gizmo," Robin said, "You're a smart kid and you'd go a lot farther in life instead of these trips to Juvi. You should give yourself a chance to change for the better."

"Bite me," Gizmo said, "When I get out of here, I'll be back."

"We know," Starfire said sadly, "We'd like to call you friend, if you'd let us, but, your words of insult hurt us. For that, you should get the soap that tastes terrible."

"You wouldn't?" Gizmo exclaimed.

Raven teleported back to the Tower and returned a moment later with a bar of Zest.

"Don't push your luck," she said drily. Edward had to chuckle as the mental image of Gizmo with the bar in his mouth and gagging.

"Now, honey," Edward said, "I think the time back in his room in Juvi will do him some good."

The police showed up and carted Billy, a chattering Gizmo and Overload back to jail.

"Let's go home, guys," Robin said.

With that, Raven went back to her soul-self and teleported the group back to the Tower.

* * *

><p><em>Sigh...more writer's block kicking in. It's harder to write a fluff piece than I thought!<em>

_Next chapter, Cyborg finds out how devious Edward really can be...LOL!_

_Hope he's got a taste for chicken!  
><em>


	5. Cyborg learns a lesson and Conclusion

**Chapter 5  
>[Next day]<strong>

Edward spent some time after breakfast and the morning training session to cut up the chicken wings into segments, 10 for him and 10 for Cyborg. He was going to spring the challenge on Cyborg for lunch.

He used some hot sauce first to wet the wings down, then, used a basic flour, salt and pepper mix to coat the wings and set those in his personal fridge. Then, he went over to Raven's room and knocked politely.

There was no answer, though, so, he opened up the link and realized that she was meditating. So, he closed it temporarily and entered the override code to go in.

The door opened and he went in quietly. Sure enough, she was there, floating above the bed and as Edward opened the fridge, she opened an eye for a second. She recognized who was raiding her fridge and resumed her meditation session with a soft smile.

Edward turned and saw the smile on his girlfriend's face and recognized that she knew he was there.

He went to the door and it hissed open.

Edward was walking back to his quarters when he ran into Kole.

"Hi, Kole," he greeted, "How are you and Gnarrk today?"

"Still tired from yesterday," she admitted, "What's ya got there?"

"Part of Cyborg's lunch," he replied.

"Can I see?" she asked.

"You can't tell him if I do tell you," he warned her.

"I won't say a word," she promised. Edward nodded.

He carefully opened the lid and Kole looked inside and took a sniff. She reeled and said, "What's in this stuff? Lava?"

"Pretty close to it," Edward said, "It's a mix of Habanero peppers, hot sauce, Cayenne, chili powder, crushed red pepper, garlic, and Ghost Chile extract."

Kole looked lost as Edward said, "It's extremely hot...The extract is pure heat, no flavor."

"It doesn't look hot," she said.

"Hot as in spicy, Kole. The only way to even start to cool this is with milk. You'll have to see what I mean," Edward said.

"Can I taste it?" she asked innocently.

"That, I won't subject you to," Edward said, "This is hot enough you might yell and ruin the surprise."

He reached into his pocket and handed Kole a clean handkerchief as her nose was running.

"Wow!" she said, "That little sniff has my nose running!"

"Keep it," Edward said, "I have more."

It was getting close to lunchtime and Edward needed to prepare the Titans other meals as well. He was going to use some other wings he bought and use a milder sauce for those, as well as regular breading materials.

After a quick stop in his room to get the prebreaded wings, he headed to the kitchen and started the fryer.

**[30 minutes later]**

Edward hit a button underneath the counter that sent a signal through the Tower, alerting the team that lunch was ready. Edward smiled to himself as the team came in, Cyborg at the lead, of course.

"Ah, Titans," Edward said, "Today, we have something different planned. Today, we have an eating challenge. It's a surprise challenge for Cyborg, though. One I spent considerable time in looking into.

"It's now time to reveal what this surprise challenge is."

He lifted a lid on Cyborg's plate and continued on, "We all know that Cyborg's an eating machine when he wants to be and while this is only 10 jumbo wings, you'll see a large cup here as well.

"But, here's the rules of the challenge: Cy, you have 20 minutes to finish the wings. They must be completely stripped of meat as well. If you go for the milk, you lose the challenge automatically. There is also a 5 minute period after you finish the wings. If you are able to do that successfully, Terra's off the hook for doing your chores as I will do your chores around the Tower for a week instead. Should you lose, though, I not only get bragging rights, I will enjoy watching you doing my chores for a week as well as yours."

Edward held out his hand. Cyborg looked at the plate then looked at Edward's outstretched hand and said, "You're on. But, you gotta do it as well."

Edward smiled and said, "I was expecting that, so, here's the rest of the deal: Should I lose, I will, for one week, not only do your chores, I will do the rest of the team's chores. If I win, then you do the chores of everyone else for a week. No going into anyone else's room, though, especially Rae's. The first one that goes for the milk loses. This means that if you pick up the milk and drink any, you lose. You can change your mind at any time before the glass touches your lips."

Cyborg smiled and said, "You're on!" and shook Edward's hand. Edward pulled up his plate and large glass of milk.

Edward handed Robin the kitchen timer, already set for 20 minutes.

"Whenever you're ready," Edward said to Robin.

"Go!" Robin said, pressing a button on the timer.

Edward picked up his first wing and bit down. The pain was intense as he chewed through the first wing and he could feel his face starting to heat up right away.

Cyborg did the same and let out a strangled "Eeep!" as he quickly chewed and swallowed. His face darkened in color and broke out into a hard sweat.

Both ate through the first two wings in quick order and both contestants were flushed and sweating heavily. Edward saw Cyborg's hand inching towards the cold, soothing relief that the milk would provide.

The third wing was just as difficult for both Edward and Cyborg and in the back of Edward's mind, he knew he'd beaten Adam Richman's attempt.

There was a fire building in both their stomachs from the incredible heat and Cyborg's hand went even closer for the milk before he stopped.

Edward was also seriously considering going for the milk, but, he was determined to either best Cyborg or at least tie him.

Meanwhile the other Titans were slack-jawed watching the torture fest. Everyone was wondering who would go for the milk first. They could see steam coming out of Edward and Cyborg's ears.

[You ok?] Raven asked.

[Feels like liquid fire, hon,] Edward replied painfully, trying not to let her feel his pain through the link.

[I can see that,] she quipped.

"Onto #4," Robin said, "You guys are doing pretty well, 11:30 left."

Cyborg took a bite of wing #4 as Edward did and the next thing the team knew, he was holding the milk in his hand and shaking visibly brought it up to his lips.

Edward had also taken the meat off wing #4 and started reaching for the milk, but, he heard in the back of his mind, [You can do it, sweetheart. Cyborg's in serious pain.]

Cyborg fought the urge to drink, though and set the milk down, untouched and tried wing number 5.

That was enough for him. He grabbed the milk and drank deeply.

Robin stopped the clock as Edward said, "Booya! The challenge is over!"

Cyborg was in too much pain to say a word as the milk was barely starting to take hold, but, was grumbling.

With the challenge over, Edward grabbed his milk and drank just as deep.

[I knew you could do it!] Happy said with a laugh.

Gnaark looked pleased with the result, "Gnarrk!"

Kole said, "Gnarrk's happy. He was hoping Edward would win."

"I was too," Terra said, "I knew my hero would win!" She gave Edward a quick hug.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, "You totally kicked Cyborg's butt!"

"Glorious victory, friend Edward!" Starfire cheered and grabbed Edward into her famous hug.

At that, Edward turned green.

"Star!" Raven said, "Let go...He could puke!"

"Eeep!" she squawked and let Edward go. He reached for a pressure point on his wrist and squeezed.

"Whew!" Edward said, his face returning to normal, "Careful, Koriand'r, that was fire going down and I really don't want it coming back up." He said that in Tamaranean so she'd understand best.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Edward smiled, "No harm done."

"No harm done!" Cyborg gasped, "I won't be able to taste for a week!"

"Well," Robin said, "Serves you right. You shouldn't have been so fast to humiliate other team members and how many times had your appetite gotten you into trouble?"

Cyborg looked thoroughly humbled though, which was the goal Edward had in mind. It wasn't to humiliate him too bad. In fact, one of the things Edward bought to smooth over any ruffled feathers once he thought the lesson was applied was some strawberry ice cream. It would also help bind to the remaining ghost chili extract and cool the palate.

"Your chores start tomorrow," Robin said, "Starting with the breakfast dishes. Edward, you're still the head cook, so, I'll let you determine if Cyborg also cooks for the team."

"That's fine, Robin," Edward said, "If you'll excuse me, I'll be back in a moment. As Cyborg and I have finished eating, I know I'm up for some ice cream. My taste buds are just as toasted."

Cyborg muttered, "What flavor? Hellfire?"

"Nah," Edward said, "They were all out of that. How's strawberry grab you?"

"Booya!" Cyborg said, "As long as it kills the fire in my mouth."

"I think it will help," Edward said and got up.

He made his way back to the freezer in his room.

Several minutes later, he had returned to see the remains of the others meals and started scooping out the ice cream.

Edward gave the first serving to Cyborg who immediately started shoveling it in. Edward had the mental image of Cyborg in the main bathroom hollering "COME ON ICE CREAM!" the next day while the other Titans were laughing. Then, he had a mental image of himself in the same predicament and winced.

Edward quickly gave the other Titans their ice cream before digging into what was left to cool his own tongue.

With that done, Edward felt that his "mission" was accomplished.

**Conclusion  
>[A week later]<strong>

Kole and Gnarrk had enjoyed their week at the Tower and outside of a few minor missions, everything had settled into a nice pattern. The training sessions were exhausting on their own anyway.

Cyborg had learned his lesson as well doing the entire team's chores for that week and after a while had realized that it's not nice to get on Edward's bad side...or in this case, his mischievous side. He knew that Edward was not wanting to hurt him too badly.

"That was for gloating over Terra, wasn't it?" Cyborg said in the middle of the "sentence".

"Mmm hmm," Edward replied with a grin, "I knew a quantity challenge wouldn't teach you a thing, but the spicy challenge, I had a 50-50 chance of getting you. Be glad I've been teaching Rae how to cook."

"Yeah," Cyborg said, "She's really been improving since you started teaching her. That first time...Gaahhh!"

"Well, she's improved to the point I'm thinking of letting her try something, probably for just her and I," Edward said with a wink.

[Really?] Raven said, piping up.

[It's going to be within a few weeks at least, dear,] Edward replied, [But, yeah. If you want, start thinking over a meal for two.]

But, as the week progressed, Kole had become comfortable with being around Edward as well. Gnarrk was also less timid around the team and the technology around the tower and, well, that pleased Edward immensely.

However, it was time to take Kole and Gnarrk back to their corner of the world and as Edward emerged from the teleport, he looked around the landscape and wondered how it had not only thrived, but, appeared to be stuck in the distant past. He could see the dinosaurs that lived there, the fruit trees and wondered to himself if he could make a living there if he ever needed to escape from humanity for a while like Kole was forced to.

He felt bad for Kole, being used for her powers like she was. He was worried that this isolation would do long term harm to her emotional state.

[Edward, hon,] Raven said, [Kole's going to be fine. She's been here for years and I'm not seeing any harm to her. Maybe overconfident at times, but, that's par for the course, I think.]

Edward sighed, [I know, dear. But, you have to admit that it's not good to be in forced exile. I was for centuries, remember? Sure, it wasn't the same as here, but, it felt like exile. I longed to be who you see now. At least Kole's got friends now that care about her.]

Edward landed in a clearing and let Kole and Gnarrk off (as well as the others) before bidding folks farewell.

"Don't be a stranger, Edward," Kole said, "You're always welcome here. All the Titans are." She gave Edward a hug and a soft kiss on the cheek, knowing that Raven wouldn't get jealous.

The team left a while later, after getting more of those fruits from the trees, and headed home, content that things would be all right.

_Edward Barnes writes..._

_This was an interesting time with our friends, and, I'm pleased that we didn't have to go out on too many missions. But, I fear that this time will be coming to an end. We, as a team, know that the evil that is out there, whether in Jump City of elsewhere will not stop to allow the Titans long to rest._

_What bothers me, though, is that the common enemies of the Titans aren't staying behind bars where they need to be. Slade's sitting in an ultramax prison, but, it's painfully clear that the Brotherhood is back to the whole team. Malchior is still buried under a mountain, so, he's no longer a threat._

_The biggest concern, though, oddly enough is Trigon himself. Raven was able to banish him from this realm and while the team thinks he's as dead as Malchior...a demon cannot be killed. He's merely been banished and I fear that he may return._

_The flashes of dreams Rae has that I see indicate that she's worried as well, but, isn't saying anything. I'm also seeing flashes of other people...three young men, close to Raven in physical age with four glowing red eyes, far more menacing than when my eyes glow in anger. Are these guys the sons of Trigon?_

_Time will tell. For now, time to chill. I've talked Raven into an actual date, and, hopefully, that opens up another door to the reclusive empath I've grown to love._

The End...for now!

* * *

><p><em>Hi, Everyone!<em>

_Just a few minor things. The first is that I will be taking a short break in this series as my next story is in my primary universe as my writing partner has finished an installment in his series and is close to finishing a major plotline, so, I will be focused on that for a few weeks...Google "Dubois Chronicles" The first listing there is my writing partner's site. Edward is featured in the lower 10-11 stories ("New Ally" and down)._

_I'm also going to be gearing up in this universe for several major items...One is alluded to above as I am going to try to bring a few elements from "The New Teen Titans" into play here. Trigon is coming back at some point. What will the team do when the sons of Trigon come calling for their little sister? How will Edward react short of tearing through whatever's in his way?_

_Until then...please R/R as they will help in determining where the next installment leads._

_See ya soon!  
><em>


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